Hundreds Attend Third Annual Orthodox Prayer Service for UN Community

Wednesday, October 01, 2003

Hundreds of clergy and faithful from throughout the metropolitan New
York City area joined hierarchs from the Standing Conference of
Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas [SCOBA] and the Standing
Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches [SCOOCH] and dozens of
representatives from the United Nations at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox
Archdiocesan Cathedral here on Monday, October 6, 2003 for the third
annual Orthodox Prayer Service for the UN Community.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, Primate of the Orthodox Church in
America, hosted and presided at this year's service, before which His
Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
America welcomed the numerous UN ambassadors, diplomatic
representatives, and staff members in attendance.

"Orthodox communities in the United States and around the world are well
aware of the evil potential of religion when it is misused,"
Metropolitan Herman told the over 400 attendees in an address at the
conclusion of the service. "Extremist nationalism or other forms of
extremist ideologies often seek to harness the energy of religion to
their own purposes and aims. Sometimes, religious communities succumb to
manipulation and to the temptations of idolatrous nationalism,
ethnocentrism, or other forms of ideological extremism.

"The true ministry of the Orthodox Christian faith, of Orthodox
Christian communities, is loving service to God and to humanity,"
Metropolitan Herman continued. "We believe that every human being
carries the image and likeness of God. When we honor the human being, we
honor God. When we serve human community and the common good, we are
imitators of God, we are disciples of Christ, we are full of the Holy
Spirit."
Mr. Joseph Stephanides, Director of the Security Council Affairs
Division of the UN Department of Political Affairs read a message from
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was unable to attend the service.

"This year, we welcome such services more than ever," the message read.
"Just seven weeks ago, our United Nations family was struck by a brutal
and barbaric blow. Colleagues who were in Iraq with no other mission
than to help its people build a better future, were taken from us, from
their families, and from the people they were working to assist. We,
whose work is so wrapped up in the tragedies of others, continue now to
wrestle with one of our own.

"But if our hearts are filled with sorrow, and our minds with images of
violence, our spirits can still draw strength from occasions such as
this, where people of different cultures and faiths come together in
friendship," the message continued. "We need that strength, the comfort
of sharing grief with friends, the solace of prayer. As the grieving
process takes its course, and the work of healing continues, we must
also learn to draw purpose from this experience. We must learn to apply
the lessons it has taught us. We must find the best way to honor the
memory of our fallen friends, and carry on their work. We must confront
death by reaffirming the value of life."

Mr. Annan concluded by calling upon the hierarchs and faithful to "pray
for our lost colleagues, and for their families and loved ones.

"I ask you to pray for the rest of us, that we may find the right way
forward, [and ] I ask you to pray for Iraq and for the whole family of
nations, that people everywhere be allowed to live in dignity, freedom,
justice and peace," his statement concluded.

Ambassador Adamantios Th. Vassilakis, Permanent Representative of Greece
to the UN, challenged the assembly to present the world with "the human
face of Christianity."

"We, Orthodox people especially, come from a long tradition of suffering
and searching," Ambassador Vassilakis noted. "Our collective psyche is
steeped in experiences of great hardship, uprooting and despair. Yet, we
endured. With faith and dignity, we always responded to challenge, we
always hoped and worked for a better future."

"Orthodoxy had to carry the heavy cross of foreign domination, but has
thus been relieved of the burdens of a medieval past," Ambassador
Vassilakis continued. "The relationship of the faithful to the
institution has remained a natural one, and love, tolerance, peace,
conciliation have been flowing without discrimination, as at the first
hour, [presenting] the human face of Christianity."

Armenia's Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the UN Armen Martirossian, also addressed those gathered for the service.

"The first such service took place two years ago, in the shadow of the
shocking events of September 11," Ambassador Martirossian noted. "In the
aftermath of that terrible day, an international coalition emerged to
fight the dreadful scourge of terrorism. Alas, despite the best
intentions and efforts undertaken by the international community, the
world has not become a safer place since then.

"For this reason, we must never shy away from bringing a spiritual
dimension to the work of the United Nations, he continued. "For though
military, political, economic and social concerns may be important, it
is the spiritual element alone which will make the United Nations the
common sanctuary of mankind, whose highest objective is peace and
security for all."

Eastern Orthodox hierarchs in attendance, in addition to Metropolitan
Herman and Archbishop Demetrios, included His Eminence, Archbishop Peter
of New York and New Jersey [OCA]; His Eminence, Archbishop Nicolae,
Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada; His Grace, Bishop
Mercurius, Moscow Patriarchal Parishes; His Grace, Bishop Antoun,
Auxiliary, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America;
His Grace, Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, Greek Archdiocese; His Grace,
Bishop Savas, Chancellor of the Greek Archdiocese; and His Grace, Bishop
Nikon of Baltimore [OCA], Auxiliary to Metropolitan Herman.

The "Good Shepherd Choir" from St. Mary and St. Anthony Coptic Orthodox
Church performed a number of traditional Coptic hymns after the service.

The service was followed by a reception in the cathedral center, at
which "The Good Shepherd Choir" of St. Mary and St. Anthony Coptic
Orthodox Church, under the direction of Mr. Jan Naguib, sang a number of
selections.